Insurance Council News

Claims for damages related to flooding in Queensland state have hit A$2 billion ($2 billion) after a jump in notifications from mining and industrial companies affected by the natural disaster, the Insurance Council of Australia said.

The package arrived at Cindy Lohman’s home in Great Mills, Maryland, just two weeks after she learned that her son, Ryan, a 24-year-old Army sergeant, had been killed by a bomb in Afghanistan. It was a thick, 9-inch-by- 12-inch envelope from Prudential Financial Inc ., which handles life insurance for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Insured losses triggered by flooding across Queensland are “modest” and well within the capacity of the nation’s insurance companies, said Robert Whelan, chief executive officer of the Insurance Council of Australia.